I’ve been absent a bit as of late, and I thought I should catch you up on what has been going on in my little part of the world…

First of all, I have been working on designing my new blog, that will replace this one in July. I have a new URL and I am pretty excited about things. I decided that with only two more years of homeschooling in my future, I needed something that fit me and would grow with me in the future. I’ll still blog about homeschooling, but I will also venture into some of my other interests a bit more. I hope you will enjoy it and like what I have in store.

Next, I’ve been dealing with a lupus flare for quite awhile. It’s been exhausting, but I am hoping I am seeing the end of this one. I really am hoping to get this whipped back into remission. It is just better all the way around when I am not dealing with an active illness. We all like me better.

Currently, I am working on completing two non-fiction books that I will be publishing for the Kindle. I am hoping to have these done by the end of this month. I’ve also been outlining a new fiction novel that I will publish under my own name, and a fiction novel that will be published under a pen name. This is an area I will talk about more on my new blog.

Today, I am actually in the middle of making cinnamon rolls. It’s 90 degrees outside, and I am making cinnamon rolls. It’s a true act of love. They are for my Dad for Father’s Day. Yes, that was a couple of days ago, but he was gone visiting my brother then. So now that he is back, I am making his present. My Dad loves my cinnamon rolls. I’ll blog about them sometime in the future. I’ve been using the recipe by The Pioneer Woman, but I have made a couple of modifications and I like them better. I’ll share my revised recipe on the new blog. I need to find the cord for my PHD camera. (That is push here dummy for those who don’t know.) I am not able to take good pictures with our fancy camera, due to my eye problems. But I seem to be able to on the PHD one. I can’t find the cord to recharge the dumb thing. It most likely is out in a box that I packed up when we started my remodel in my front room. (Which still isn’t done by the way…) Once I locate that cord, I will be back in the photo business and can do justice to recipe posts. I’ll be doing a post for my french fries then as well, which I am also making for dinner today.

I think that catches us up. If I’ve left anything out, ask me. I’ll be happy to fill you in!

So today I have been reflecting on my life and all of the changes that I have made over these past several months. I decided that perhaps it is now time to answer some of the questions I have been asked privately from some of my readers. I promised I would share answers when I was ready, and since today is my birthday, I decided the best gift I could give myself was to answer these questions once and for all.

So I am going to do a question and answer format type of interview with a version of each question I have been asked over the past few months. Let me know if you like this format. If you do like this, then perhaps we can do this periodically here on my blog.

Why did you quit your job with TOS?

Well, nothing like starting with the big one, huh? Honestly, I had felt for a long time that God had other plans for me. I just refused to listen. So when I actually left, it was long overdue. That being said, the company was moving in a direction I was not comfortable with and no longer wished to be a part of it. There are some other dirty little details that I just don’t want to go into publicly. Had I listened to God the first time, those details would be a non-issue as I would have left a year prior to them occurring.

If you could do anything differently in that process, what would you have done?

Listened to God the first time and quit before. It would have saved me a lot of unnecessary pain.

What have you learned through this process?

I have learned to always follow God the first time he prompts you to do something. Don’t question it or fight it. He knows what is best and you can save a lot of heartache and tears if you just do what He asks immediately.

It seems as if you lost some close friends through this process. How do you feel about that?

Yes, I did lose some close friends or at least who I thought were close friends. What I have learned is that they were not really my friends at all. They were most interested in what I could do for them or give to them. Those aren’t the kind of people I want for friends.

What I did learn was that I have many other wonderful friends who are true blue. I learned who I can truly trust. I am thankful for each and every one of them. I am truly blessed.

What are you doing now?

Oh, I am so glad you asked! As you might be aware, I have started a new website with my special and dear friend, Heidi Strawser. We wanted to create a place for all homeschoolers. Homeschool Mosaics is the result of our dreams and plans. This was truly a God-led project and we are honestly amazed each day at how He is blessing us. We have lots of other exciting things planned in the future that we hope will bless others.

I am also working on another new venture with my friend Christi. We should be launching our new product line soon, and I will be sure to share when that happens. You won’t want to miss it!

And finally, I am working on a line of books for the kindle that I should begin publishing within the next month. This particular series is non-fiction and I will also be publishing some books written by my husband in the gardening area. I am also working on my great American novel.

So as you can see, things are working out for the best. Always follow God’s leading, and you will be blessed immeasurably.

It’s been awhile since I just blogged about life. I have been up to my eyeballs in projects and work and just haven’t taken the time to share what is going on. So I thought it was past time for me to remedy that and share.

I’ve been waiting for the past week for Blog Carnival to come back online so I can post my bi-monthly blog carnival. Everytime I check it, it says it is temporarily down. Temporary means just a short time in my world. I have no idea what temporary means to them. It just seems like they have move beyond temporary, you know? Hopefully they will come back up soon, so I can post my blog carnival. We shall see.

I have been spending a lot of time lately working on an exciting new project that you just might find valuable. I am in the process of launching a new website for homeschoolers, with my partner Heidi, and the help of 23 other women who will be writing for us. The name of the website is Homeschool Mosaics. The website is due to launch on April 2nd. Until then, you can follow along with us on our Facebook page. We will be having a Facebook Party to celebrate the launch of the new site, and you can win prizes! There will be some free things for everyone, and we currently have over 50 other prizes that you can win. That number seems to be growing daily. The Facebook Party will be on April 2nd, from 8pm to 10 pm, Eastern time. Be sure to sign up and follow us so you can have a chance at winning the wonderful items we have to give away!

Last week I was given some news that I have been digesting ever since. It seems that I am developing a cataract on my left eye. This might not seem like a big deal to you, but I have had so many eye problems over the past several years. I have had detached retinas and already had a cataract surgery on my right eye. The problem is that due to my retinal surgeries, my eyes work opposite from each other. So the problem with my developing a cataract on my left eye is that this is the eye I use to read and work. This means that though I can sit across the room and watch TV with my right eye, I can’t clearly see the book in my hand, or the computer. It is causing me some great difficulty already. I find this extremely frustrating, though I was relieved that I wasn’t just going blind. The blessing in disguise is that when they feel I am ready for surgery, they will be able to implant a new lens in my eye that will most likely be mufti-focal and will help my eyes work better together than they have in years. I just have to get bad enough. I wish I knew what their definition of bad enough was, as I think if you can’t see, they should be able to fix it if it is a fixable thing. I will most likely be going in to have my eye dilated on Monday. Hopefully we can get something scheduled as far as surgery after that. We are going to be praying that way. The daily headaches are beyond old. You know, for a girl who never wanted to have an eye surgery because they sound scary, I sure have had a lot of them. God has a definite sense of humor.

My hedgehog still doesn’t really like me. She does get less bristly than she used to with me. But she really likes the boys better. She seems to adore Chandler. You would think she would love me since I am the one who feeds her, waters her, and cleans her pen more often than not. Go figure.

I got a new calling in church. I am no longer working in the nursery. I am the Activity Days Leader. This means I am working with the girls ages 8-11 to prepare them for the Young Women’s program when they turn 12. I currently only have 3 girls, but will gain a 4th in May. We have met twice and it has been fun so far. I think I am really going to enjoy it, though I was a bit shell-shocked at first. I haven’t worked with girls one on one for 15 1/2 years. I don’t have a daughter. I was worried I was going to have trouble relating to them. We seem to be ok.

Our homeschool is going well. I can’t believe that we are 3/4 of the way done with our Freshman year of high school. That is just crazy. It is strange to think I will be all done homeschooling in just a little over 3 more years. Whatever will I do with myself?

Chandler and I started an exercise program this week. He is doing well. I am wondering if it might not be so bad to stay OUT of shape. We are doing P90X. Hopefully I will survive this experiment.

I have a few reviews I need to get posted here on the blog. Some will have giveaways. So keep your eyes open for those. Most of my reviews are about items you won’t want to miss. One is an item you need to know to miss. You don’t want it. It will most likely be the most negative review I have ever done. If you didn’t think I could do a negative review, you will want to see this one. LOL!

On that note, I will close this epistle. Let me know if you like this format. I may try to make it a regular thing around here on the blog. If you have any questions for me, go ahead and ask. I will be happy to answer them here. Have a great weekend!

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About Brenda

Brenda Emmett is the editor and site owner of Garden of Learning. As a former preschool teacher, she feels that having a choice in educating a child is important to their development and self esteem. She currently enjoys homeschooling her son who is … continue reading